How hard is taking care of a hamster?

[codex57]

I had fish and hamsters in college (2 of us rescued the hamsters from our other roommate).

I'd have to say hamsters are easier than fish IMHO. Cleaning something dry is easier than something wet. Both can smell. Hamsters are also a lot more interesting than fish.

I'd hold the kid off for as long as possible.

[Jenny_A]

We've had a female Chinese Dwarf hamster for about 8 months now and we all *love* her! She's been the perfect pet for our family. I did quite a bit of research and was told that the Chinese Dwarf hamsters are more shy than other breeds. Izzy is very tiny and will just sit on the palm of my hand. She is a lot more calm than other hamsters I've seen.

I was also told to purchase a simple cage, as opposed to one with a lot of tunnels and "toys" to it. It's hard to clean in all those little tunnels and take them apart. I got our cage at Pet Smart. It's a small wire cage that came with a food bowl, wheel, and water bottle.

I clean the cage maybe once a week. It takes all of 10 minutes. Very easy. Dump the old bedding out. Wash with soap in the sink, refill the bedding, and done. I have to refill her bowl every 1 to 2 days. I change the water 2 times a week. We try and get her out of the cage at least a little bit every day.

She's not a biter at all. She bit a couple of times early on, but was quickly tamed. She's very sweet.

Anyway, there were a lot of negative reviews of hamsters, so I just wanted to chime in with our positive experience.

[wellyes]

As an alternative...I have had several pet mice over the years. They're great. They're not nearly as smart as hamsters, so, they don't try to escape. They eat, they play, they poop, they sleep. They are easy to tame so you can hold them. Fun to watch and not much work. Plus, they die within 2 years, so, not a huge commitment.

[hellokitty]

I had a lot of pet rodents as a kid and hamsters were my favorite. Yes, you do have to clean the cage at least once a wk, or it will smell. They are fun, but they can bite, you need to buy them from some place where they are used to being handled. If they aren't used to being handled, they will be twitchy, prone to biting and anti-social. They can be noisy, so you kind of have to keep them in a room where it won't annoy you at night, b/c they are nocturnal. My biggest issue is that the teddy bear hamsters can be fragile. I had a couple of them die from wet tail. IDK how sensitive your kids are to a pet potentially dying. I did ok with it (3rd grader when I got my first hamster), but some kids might have a really hard time with it. Also, be careful not to get a male and female together by accident, we ended up with babies once. Whichever pet shop we bought them from obviously screwed up on that one.

If you are going to be traveling a lot, I don't think I'd recommend a hamster. You'll see it as an extra burden and extra space hog in the car when you are driving back and forth. Oh and yes, they are houdinis. Even though the teddy bear hamsters look fluffy and palm sized, they can fit into a hole the diameter of a dime. So, as you can imagine, if they get loose, it can be bad. They have been known to get under ppl's carpets and cause extensive damage. We found an escapee in our sump pump when I was a kid. The plastic cages with all the tunnels and stuff look really cool, but don't get them! They are a PITA to clean and the parts are kind of cheap, making it easy for them to escape, esp if a child accidentally forgets to close a hatch, it basically means multiple escape routes for the hamster. If you are going to travel a lot, I'd recommend one of those basic clear plastic rectangular cages with a handle on top. It's not fancy, but you won't have to worry about bedding getting all over the place like the wire cages (and the wire bottoms are not good for their feet anyway).

[AngB]

I had fish and hamsters in college (2 of us rescued the hamsters from our other roommate).

I'd have to say hamsters are easier than fish IMHO. Cleaning something dry is easier than something wet. Both can smell. Hamsters are also a lot more interesting than fish.

I'd hold the kid off for as long as possible.

This is true. I would get a hamster over a fish, definitely. Fish die way more easily (you have to be careful about water changes, etc.)

[Tanya]

I think that if you don't want a biter, you need to start with a baby and handle it regularly. Lots of times, pet stores have older hamsters. My first couple hamsters came from a breeder my aunt knew. After that, I would call the pet store to find out when they were getting babies in.
There is also a huge difference in if you handle it often. My hamster in college was my most friendly. I had him out every morning. My roommate, on the other hand, hardly gave hers any attention and she ended up giving it away eventually.

I always had a wire cage, but took the wire thing out of the bottom of the cage so that he didn't have to walk on that. I always used twist ties on the cage doors. And depending on how well the ball locked, I sometimes used tape over the door on that too.
My college hamster would run around my apartment bedroom, then go back to his cage when he got tired in the morning. I'd then lock him up. But, he was handled a lot and I had my room where he couldn't escape the actual room.